Einstein Heads Group of 17 German Professors Asking Re-instatement of Prof. Gumbel

Prof. Albert Einstein and a number of other German scientists and professors have joined in a protest against the dismissal of Professor Emil J. Gumbel, Jewish professor, from University of Heidelburg. Prof. Gumbel was ousted owing to the pressure of the Nazis who objected to him because he is a Jew and who abhorred his Socialist and particularly his pacifistic views.

This is the first time since the establishment of the German Republic that a professor has been ousted from a German university because of his political convictions.

A petition signed by seventeen prominent German professors has been submitted to the Government of the State of Baden asking that the dismissal order issued by the Baden Minister of Education be rescinded.

In his protest against Prof. Gumbel’s dismissal, Prof. Einstein said: “The ousting of Prof. Gumbel would be, I am convinced, an outrage of the gravest kind. Should a man be persecuted because he does not surrender to the worst mass suggestions, or because he has the courage to fight selflessly for the truth and humanity without taking into consideration the superficial success and personal safety? The respect for the authorities can be maintained only then when they adhere to justice and protect the small number of worthy individuals without regard of the cries of the mob.”

Prof. Gumbel, who is now on a visit to the United Statss, where he attended the world Genetic Congress at Cornell University, has appealed to the State Government of Baden against his expulsion. The ousting of the Jewish professor caused something of a furore in German scientific circles as well as in the Republican press.